ARAI to invite short films to encourage safety on streets

The videos, which will create awareness, can be up to 3 minutes each and the winning films will form part of the ARAI website and the ministry of transport ministry's road safety campaign.Satyanarayan Iyer | TNN | August 26, 2016, 12:15 IST

Drivers, pedestrians will comply with traffic rules if road systems suit human behaviour, expert asysPUNE: The city-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) will invite applications from candidates interested in making short films on road safety and traffic rules.

The videos, which will create awareness, can be up to 3 minutes each and the winning films will form part of the ARAI website and the ministry of transport ministry's road safety campaign.

Government data has pegged accidents on Indian roads among the highest in the world - an estimated 400 people lose their lives every day in road-related fatalities in 2015.

In the same year, over thrice that number were injured. "As a signatory to the Brasilia declaration, we are committed to halve the load of fatalities by 2020," wrote Sanjay Mitra, secretary, ministry of road transport and highways in his introductory comments of the road accidents report of 2015.

The announcement for the film competition will be made soon by the ARAI authorities and participants can either make the films individually or in a team of four members.

"Short films in any kind will be accepted i.e. drama, comedy, animation documentaries and news story formats...The entry should not have been screened or broadcast as part of any public platform or network," according to the ARAI concept note.

The films will be judged by a panel for originality, creativity, innovation and aesthetic production quality.

The top three winners will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh each. Also, the agency will give away 5 consolation prizes of Rs 10,000 each for the next five winners.

The ministry has earmarked Rs 600 crore for the remediation of more than 700 road engineering defects - at places where five or more deaths were reported in the previous year.

KEY ACCIDENT DATA

· About 54.1% of all persons killed in road accidents are in the 15-34 years age group

· 13 out of 29 states accounted for 86.7% of all road accidents in the country in 2015

· Accident severity (number of persons killed/ 100 accidents) has increased to 29.1 in 2015 against 21.6 in 2005